Digital Death God
by Magician Girl Mirani
Summary: When Takato fell unconcious during Growlmon's battle with Mihiramon he unlocked a power never before seen in his world, the power of a Shinigami. Join him and his companions as they face all new challenges, friends enemies. co-made with I'm Yu. He writ it
1. Chapter 1

Digital Death God

Hello Everyone! Now, before you all start yelling at me that I should be working on my other fic please hold your comments, bullets, swords and any other weapons while I explain. This fic is co-authored with I'm Yu although he's the one that actually wrote it. I helped with concepts and stuff and ideas so taht this fic would work out. I haven't stopped my fic, Right now I am facing the dreaded writer's block but I AM working on it so hopefully that won't take too long. Check out the other fics on I'm Yu's profile if you want after reading this and I hope you enjoy it.

**Disclaimer:** Neither myself or I'm Yu own Digimon or Bleach (Unfortunately) We do however own some original Digimon that will be making an appearance later in the fic -smirks- I won't say much but I'm sure you'll all love it!

-o0o-

**Prologue**

-o0o-

He couldn't even begin to describe the pain. He didn't know how, but he could actually FEEL Mihiramon's jaws clamped on his side, as if it was him on top of the Hypnos building instead of his partner, Growlmon. He saw the darkness closing in on his vision as he fell to his knees, dropping the cards he had in his hand.

"I can feel it," he muttered as he started to fall to his side. "It's over."

The last thing 16 year old Takato Matsuki heard before the darkness completely took over his vision was the Rika and Henry, calling his name.

'What the hell is that ticking noise?' grumbled Takato as he slowly opened his eyes. 'For that matter, what happened? The last thing I remember was…' He quickly bolted upright as he remembered what had befallen his partner at the hands of the large Tiger Digimon, but quickly winced as he felt the pain in his side.

'Am I dead?' though Takato, as he looked around. 'You'd think I wouldn't feel any more pain, though I have no clue why the hell I'm feeling what Growlmon felt on the roof and why my heaven seems so…weird!'

He wasn't kidding. All he could see were clocks, which explained why he could hear all of that ticking when he woke up. "Funny looking heaven," Takato grumbled to himself, still holding his aching side. "Does this mean that it's over for me…for the world?" He asked himself.

"It's not over yet, Tamer," came a slightly childish voice that Takato recognized instantly. He turned around to see the giant form of Growlmon, Guilmon's champion form. While he was happy to see his partner, he was also worried that this meant they were both dead and wondering why most of his right hand side was hidden in the shadow, looking slightly distorted.

"Growlmon!" Takato exclaimed, before quickly noticing how he'd been referred to. "Are we both dead? Do you even remember who I am?" he asked, fear evident in his voice.

"Of course I remember you, that tone just seemed appropriate," replied the large dinosaur, showing that he clearly remembered who Takato was. "But I don't know about dead, if I was, I'd be an egg in the digital world, not here."

With that cleared up, Takato was left with even more questions than he had when he woke up in this place. 'If Growlmon isn't dead, then neither am I,' thought Takato, who seemed to gain some happiness from this, but this quickly changed to confusion. 'If that's the case, then where the hell are we?'

Before he could ponder this any further, another voice attracted both Takato's and Growlmon's attention, "I believe I can help answer some of your questions."

They both turned to see a man emerge from the shadows, standing at least 6 and a half feet high, dressed in what looked medieval armour. He was garbed in white trousers, secured with what looked like 2 leather belts with calf high boots with armour over his knees and thighs. On his upper body, he merely wore armour on his shoulders, with plating on the outside of his left arm and leather gloves with metal plates on the back. Both arms were wrapped in red ribbons, with a large cross on his chest of the same colour, but appeared to be stitched onto his actual skin. On his head he wore a crown shaped helmet over a chain mail cowl that covered most of his head and neck, leaving his face exposed. He was well built and his eyes seemed to look straight though you, as if he was looking straight into your very soul. His appearance was completed by, strangely, a large Scythe strapped to his back, with the staff looking like it was made from some things-or some ones-spine.

"Who are you?" asked Takato, who for some reason, thought this guy felt...familiar, but he had no idea where from. "Do you know where we actually are?"

"For now, my name isn't something you need to know, though I doubt you could hear it yet," replied the knight, muttering the last part under his breath. "As for where we are," he continued, "It goes by many names around the world, but I guess you'd probably know it as limbo, the void, between life and death, heaven and hell, etc. I'm sure you get the idea."

This left Takato reeling. He was actually dead! "B-B-But how? I thought I wasn't dead, since Growlmon's here!" yelled Takato, who was now worried. He thought it was just a dream, but he was officially deep sixed! He was worried how the others were doing how was parents would react. Before he could carry on this train of thought, the knight interrupted.

"Before you start depressing yourself, let me explain. No, you are not _officially_ dead. You have the large dinosaur over there to thank for that," said the knight, gesturing towards Growlmon. "Normally the damage you received would kill most humans. I still don't know how you managed to create such a strong link with your partner while the other 2, who've been with their Digimon longer haven't," continued the man, who now started walking towards Takato.

"As for why Growlmon is here, it seems as if the link between you is keeping you from dying fully, though leaving you dead enough to meet me," he stated, leaving both human and Digimon even more confused.

"What do you mean by that? What link, and who are you?" asked Takato, who was started to get tired of feeling out of the loop.

"It seems as if even though Mihiramon dealt a fatal blow to Growlmon, he is still alive. You, however, felt the pain through the bond with your partner, which is incredibly strong for someone who has been a tamer for a mere couple of months," he replied. "However, while the damage dealt may have been enough to technically 'kill' you, your friend was stronger since he is a Digimon. This means that he's keeping you alive, but the bond was strong enough to drag him to this 'charming' little place, along with myself" he continued.

"So...I'm not dead, but I'm not alive either?" asked Takato, who was just starting to understand what was happening.

"No, your in between them," replied the knight, "but apparently, that's more than enough for you to meet me," he finished, a slight smirk now apparent on his face.

"So, who are you," asked Growlmon, his curiosity now finally bringing him into the conversation.

"In a way, I'm a part of Takato, just as you are," replied the knight, leaving both of them in a state of pure confusion.

"What's that supposed mean?" asked Takato, who still couldn't shake the feeling that he knew this guy from somewhere.

"You remember that little voice in the back of your head for the past 2 months, telling you when to duck or move just before something nearly hit you?" replied the knight, who was now smiling lightly towards the young man.

For Takato, that's when it clicked, how he knew the large man standing in front of him. He recognised the voice now. If he'd ignored it he would have been killed by Icedevimon and several other 'wild ones' over the past 2 months he'd been a tamer.

"But, how is that possible?" demanded Takato, who was now struggling to understand everything that was happening.

"Allow me to explain, as best I can. I still don't know how you heard me since I shouldn't be able to contact you until you're dead after all," replied the knight as he took a seat. Something told them that this discussion would have a massive impact upon them, and the rest of the tamers, not to mention the human and dig-worlds.

-o0o-

**AN: **Okay, that's the prologue done and dusted for this fic. A cookie to anyone who figures out exactly who Takato's Zanpakuto is! I didn't recognise him at first but to those who do congrats and feel free to share (but don't spoil it for everyone else who hasn't recognised him)

Reviews are more than welcome and we'd both really appreciate your opinions on this fic and thank you!

See you guys next time!

MG Mirani


	2. Chapter 2

Alright guys! Welcome to the second chapter! It's a bit slow and I'm Yu and I apologize for that but it's necessary so I hope you don't mind too much. The next chapter will hopefully pick up a bit but for now just go with it okay? Right! If you want a disclaimer go to the prologue, I can't be bothered typing one up each chapter. I'm lazy like that. Enjoy and review!

You're getting two chaps at once (well, one prologue and one chapter) but dont' expect that to happen often, this is just cuz it's the beginning of the fic.

And Here...We...GO!

-o0o-

**You/I/We Are...**

-o0o-

"As I said earlier," started the armoured man, "I am a part of you just like Guilmon is. The only real problem is that in your world, I shouldn't even exist."

Before the stranger could say anything else, Takato quickly asked, "Then how come you're here? And what do you mean by _'I shouldn't even exist'_?"

The man merely sighed, before replying, "I will answer that question as best I can. However, once I have answered your question, I'd prefer if you didn't ask any other questions until I've finished explaining what I can, it becomes most troublesome and will draw this out much longer than is necessary."

Takato simply nodded his head and turned to check on his partner. Surprisingly, Growlmon had his attention focused on the stranger, like he would when he was speaking with Takato. With that, Takato returned his attention to their guest, waiting for him to start explaining.

"To begin with, I shouldn't exist here because I am from a world that is completely different to yours. My world deals more with spirits and ghosts instead of Digimon like in your world, and neither of them have any sign of existence in the other world from what I can gather. Furthermore, where your world has contact with the Digital World mine has a connection to two other worlds which can be considered the equivalent of Heaven and Hell found in most religions.

The fact that someone like myself exists cannot be a good thing. It means that either something is causing our worlds to merge, which is highly unlikely, or there is simply some kind of bridge connecting them and has been for a couple of months or so-at least. This is the more plausible of the two explanations although until I find out more, I cannot confirm which situation we are currently facing at the moment. Do you understand me so far?"

Takato simply nodded dumbly, trying to process what the man in front of him had just said. 'He's from another world? I thought accepting Digimon was tough but _ghosts_! Not to mention a REAL Heaven and Hell! Why are things never simple? Though, what did he mean by he's as a part of me like Guilmon is?'

Unaware of the young tamers thoughts, the knight continued, "Now, in my world, there are several kinds of spirits, just like there are several kinds of digimon. In fact, in ways they are very similar to your digimon types, while at the same time they remain completely different.

The first kind of spirit is simply a human spirit. It's self explanatory; they're the ghosts of dead humans. They're fairly common in my world, and could be comparable to the data type digimon your world.

The next kind could be comparable to your vaccine types. They're called Shinigami although sometimes they are known as Soul Reapers. While that may sound bad, it's in fact the complete opposite. They are responsible for protecting the human souls and guiding them to Soul Society, that world's equivalent to Heaven. In fact, like your have chances to become tamers, some human souls are capable of becoming soul reapers under certain circumstances. I'll explain more about that later. Are you with me so far?"

Takato and Growlmon simply nodded their heads. They were both stunned by the fact that this stranger appeared to be from another world, a world so different from their own but Takato was slightly scared. Despite being a teenager, he was still slightly scared about the fact they were talking about _ghosts_ of all things. Before he could continue this train of thought, Takato quickly noticed something from the man's explanation.

"Wait a minute! You're comparing spirits from your world to digimon, yet you yourself said that digimon don't exist where your from! So how do you know this stuff?" Growlmon simply kept watching the man, ready to strike in case he tried anything while paying attention to the story that he was weaving for them. This guy seemed harmless enough for now but he would not risk injury to his tamer through his own carelessness.

"...Lets just say I found a good source of information when I arrived here for now, and before you ask where, I might tell you when I'm finished with my explanation, will that do for now?" Takato reluctantly nodded his head in response, while Growlmon looked between them, a confused expression on his face, but decided to wait until the stranger finished talking.

"Now, the last group could be considered similar to the Virus type Digimon, but at the same time they can be much more dangerous. They seem to exist for but a single reason: devouring human souls." This caused Takato to gulp. Most Virus type digimon he knew of were downright ruthless and incredibly powerful, but at least there was a chance of possibly reasoning with them. If these creatures from this man's world were deadlier, then he was somewhat grateful that they didn't exist in his world.

The knight continued, "They are simply known as Hollows. These were once normal human souls, but became consumed by loneliness and anger, leaving them...well, hollow. They mutate into vicious creatures. They're hard to miss, they all have bone white masks, usually resembling some form of animal and a large hole in their chest, with forms that could no longer be considered human. The hole in their chests is a physical representation of the humanity that they have lost. They constantly seek out human souls to devour, even resorting to devouring others of their kind in order to become stronger. The adage, _Only the Strong Survive_ could not be more fitting with regards to these creatures."

"So, is there anything you want to ask me?" finished the man, sounding as if he had just discussed the weather instead of various types of ghosts, some of which were capable of killing everyone without hesitation. Before Takato could say anything, Growlmon spoke up, "So, what are you? You feel different, but you still feel like Takatomon! I'm confused..." The large saurian proceeded to scratch the back of his head, his head tilted slightly to the side. Now _that_ little titbit left Takato even more confused than before. This stranger _felt_ like Takato to the large Saurian? How as that possible? Before he could ask anything, the knight merely chuckled.

"Figures that your partner would notice, you two are incredibly close compared to the other tamers," stated the knight, causing Takato to blush a little at the praise his partner received, while still looking at the man, waiting for an explanation.

"You remember what I said about souls having the chance to become Shinigami under certain circumstances?" he asked, receiving a nod from Takato in reply. "One of the requirements is having very high amounts of spiritual energy, otherwise known as Reiatsu, compared to other human souls. The other requirement, is the...possession of an inner spirit, I guess you could call it. This is a part of them and represents their Zanpakuto, or Soul Cutting Sword. It is part of them, while at the same time, it's separate from them. With enough training, the Shinigami is able to manifest this power into a weapon, usually a sword or some variation of said weapon..

Each Zanpakuto is unique, with no two people wielding the same one as far as I am aware. After a time, the Shinigami will eventually be able to hear the name of their zanpakuto, and with that, be able to use new abilities granted to them by the zanpakuto. In a way, you could think of them as the modify cards you use to strengthen your digimon, or perhaps a more apt description is the digivolution that your partners go through, except that they work on you instead of your partner."

"Okay...not to sound rude, but why are you telling me all of this?" asked Takato, who was now feeling more confused than he was when the conversation started, instead of less confused as he had been hoping. Upon hearing his question, the knight merely smirked and replied, "Think about what I just said about a zanpakuto and what I said earlier, you'll figure it out."

With that, Takato turned his thoughts back to what had just been said. 'Okay, so these zanpakuto are meant to represent part of a person's soul? I find that a little hard to believe...wait, didn't this guy keep saying that he's a part of me like Guilmon? And didn't Growlmon say that he _felt_ like me? But, if that's the case, then that means...'

Takato's facial expressions slowly changed from confusion, to incredulity and finally shock as he finally put the pieces together. He stuttered for a few seconds before finally managing to get a sentence out, "Y-Y-You mean that You are meant to be my..." the knight merely nodded his head in response.

"That is indeed correct, young Takato. I am indeed your zanpakuto," stated the knight. "This is why I have yet to give you my name, I am not entirely sure if you are able, or indeed ready, to hear it now. But I may try before our conversation ends shortly."

"I'm guessing that means I was the 'Source of Information' you mentioned earlier?" When he received a nod in reply, he quickly asked, "So, does that make me a soul reaper? Or Shinigami? Whatever they're called, am I one?" asked Takato. As soon as that question left his mouth, however, he quickly remembered what had been said about them. "Wait, does this mean that I'm dead? I thought you said Growlmon was keeping me alive?" yelled Takato, although it came out as more of a yelp. He was now starting to panic slightly. Before he could say anything else, the knight interrupted.

"Takato listen to me. I told you earlier, no you are not dead. The connection between you and your partner is keeping you alive, since Growlmon is still alive in the real world. However, to my knowledge this kind of situation hasn't happened before, so I have no clue what the situation will be when you wake up. All I posess is the inherited knowledge given to all Zanpakuto during their creation. Any other knowledge we gain is due to either contact with others of our kind or through our respective wielder's experiences and thoughts."

"Wake up? You mean this is just a dream?" asked Takato, who had calmed down somewhat. Growlmon still had his attention on the knight, having paid attention to him for the entire conversation but said nothing except his earlier question. This was certainly a change. Usually in rookie form Guilmon could barely pay attention to anything for more than a few minutes. A look of confusion could still be made out from his facial expression.

"In a sense, you could call it that," replied the stranger. "While we're here, or in your mindscape, normally what may seem to take a long time will only take a few seconds out in the real world. In fact, we've probably been here for over an hour, but out there it's only been a few seconds, at most."

This caused Takato to sigh in relief. "So we still have a chance then," he muttered to himself. He turned to his partner and asked him, "So, you ready to fight that guy again, boy?"

Growlmon simply nodded, before asking, "So, how do we get out of here, Takatomon?" That caught the teen off guard, since he didn't know. Before he could think of anything though, their new companion merely chuckled.

"No need to worry about that. While we were talking, you were subconsciously drawing on my energy, so you should be waking up shortly. Though whether it will be as a ghost or in your own body I do not know. I am new to this world and am unsure how things will work here."

That caught Takato's attention. "So you have no idea what will happen to me when I wake up, meaning the others may think I'm dead? Well, that helps," Takato grumbled the last part before turning his attention to Growlmon once again. "What do you say boy? You ready to go back there and win?"

Growlmon nodded and replied "This time I know we can beat him. All I need is your help...tamer."

Takato nodded in agreement as the knight spoke up, "Remember, separate you are weak, together you are stronger than you can imagine." As he said this, the world around Takato and Growlmon started to fade, with the knight fading at a slightly slower rate. "Forget your fears and face your enemy. Force those who face you to abandon hope as their sins are purged. When you do, call upon my name..."

Takato was able to make out the name as the world faded, and the last thing he said to the man just before everything disappeared was, "I thought it would have been something like Lancelot or Arthur. Still, that's a cool name," he finished with a smile.

The knight looked surprised, but he quickly graced Takato with a proud smile. Just before he completely faded from view, he simply said, "Use it wisely, young Takato," before completely disappearing from sight with the rest of their surroundings leaving Takato and Growlmon alone.

"You ready boy?" questioned Takato, only to receive a determined growl from the large Saurian. "Then lets go get him," he shouted, before the pair of them faded out, ready to return to the fight. A fight, which had now become more complicated than they could have hoped to imagine.

-o0o-

**AN: **Well, that's the second chapte.r I know that you hardcore bleach fans will find this completely boring and useless but for the digimon fans out there who aren't quite as familiar with bleach this provides a good starting point for them, even if it's only basic information and it's necessary for Takato and Growlmon so they understand exactly what's going on.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and review! We look forward to your comments!

Until next time!

MG Mirani

Ja Ne!


	3. Chapter 3

Hello folks! Welcome to the next chapter of Digital Death God! If you enjoyed the last few chaps then you're gunna love this one! The pace has finally picked up and we are all raring and ready to go! Have fun reading and if you could please leave a review. Both me and I'm Yu appreciate any feedback given to us, just no flames. That seem reasonable? Good.

Oh, here's a key so no one gets confused.

"Talking"

'thinking'

'_Takato to Zanpakuto and Guilmon through bond'_

"**Zanpakuto to Takato"**

'**Zanpakutou's thoughts'**

Let the fic…begin!

(Outside limbo, few seconds earlier)

"TAKATO!" shouted Rika and Henry as their fellow tamer collapsed. They quickly rushed to his side to see what was wrong, when they noticed a slight problem with their friend, he wasn't breathing. What was stranger was that some kind of white energy was seeping from him, leaking from his body in what seemed like ribbons of light swaying in a non existent breeze. Now, they were used to dealing with digimon and had seen more than their fair share of strange occurrences but they had no idea what was going on now. Even their digimon partners were watching with confused expressions. No one noticed little Calumon coming towards them until he landed straight in front of Takato's still form, staring at the energy leaking from his body, seemingly mesmerized by the whitish strands of energy.  
"Pretty…" said Calumon, as he approached the light, attracted to it like an insect to a bug zapper. Before he got any closer, Takato's arm suddenly snapped out and grabbed his foot, prompting a shocked yell from the small digimon and Henry, and an (unnoticed) sigh of relief from Rika. While she wouldn't out right admit it, she was warming up to the goggle wearing tamer and seeing him lying their apparently dead had scared her. Not that she would tell this to anyone, of course, not even Renamon.

While Rika was being slightly thankful, Takato still had a firm grip on Calumon's foot, while taking in deep breaths, as if he had been underwater for a long period of time. He did this for a few seconds, before slowly getting to his feet, the ribbons of light now fading from view. His legs were a little shaky but they held him and he didn't collapse so he decided he was fine.

"Wow, being dead really takes it out of you," muttered Takato, straightened his back which cracked loudly, causing everyone nearby to wince before they realised what he said. He quickly looked around himself.

"At least I'm still in my body. That'll make things a little easier to explain...I hope," he continued to mutter until he realised everyone was now staring at him, even the digimon. "And I said all that out loud, didn't I?" he asked the others, who all nodded in response. "...Ah, nuts!" he sighed. "So, anything big happen while I was out?"

Rika was the first to snap out of it, before asking, "What the hell do you mean by 'being dead' Gogglehead? You can't just wake up from the dead like that! And what was up with that little light show you were putting on just now?" Her voice had started of normal, but had gradually risen in volume until she was nearly shouting by the end. Renamon merely glanced at her. 'She only does that when she's worried, but what would make her react like that?' Her eyes moved to Takato for a moment before returning to her tamer. 'I wonder...'

Before she could complete that particular train of thought Terriermon spoke up, having regained some of his usual bluster after being taken down by Mihiramon, "She means what was with those white energy ribbon things? They were coming out of your body! You looked like a human bug zapper! I'm surprised you didn't zap any of the nearby flies," he smirked, as Renamon spoke up, "and where exactly did that sword come from? It wasn't with you before," Renamon still sounded weak after crash landing from the top of the Hypnos Building. She gestured to his waist and the others looked to where she indicated.

"Sword?" asked Takato, before looking for himself. Indeed, on his waist now rested a sword in a plain black sheath. The hilt was a simple strip of s-shaped metal, with a metal pommel and a handle wrapped in plain black leather.

"**You can admire my blade later, Takato, right now, your partner needs help, does he not?"** came the now familiar voice of his Zanpakuto.

'_Gah! How'd I nearly forget about that? Thanks..._' thought back Takato. "I'll try to explain that when we have more time," he answered, before quickly getting to his knees and looking through his cards, causing the others to be confused again.

"Takato, what are you doing? None of us have any cards that can take that guy down. We don't even know what we're up against," said a worried Henry. Both Terriermon and Renamon had been soundly beaten in their champion forms, and Growlmon hadn't faired much better even if he somehow had managed to last longer.

"Yeah goggles, even Growlmon crumbled like tin foil against this guy," said Rika, who was trying to keep up her calm appearance, despite the gnawing worry that ate at her, whispering in her ear, telling her that they were going to lose.

Before anyone could say anything else, Takato quickly pointed to the D-Arc near his hand, which he had dropped when he collapsed earlier. Only, instead of the blank display they had previously received, it now had a holographic display of their opponent, along with the following details:

_Name: Mihiramon_

_Attribute: Data_

_Type: Holy Beast_

_Attacks: Armoured Tiger Tail/ Samurai Tiger Tail/Tiger Wing Blades__  
__Treasure Rod_

The others stared confusedly at Takato's digivice, annoyed that the information they needed only came after they had all been beaten. Takato, on the other hand, merely gave them a determined look.

"Now we know what we're up against. Growlmon is still up there, and he's still willing to fight. As long as he is, then so am I! And I will not back down. I will stay with him no matter what!" As he said this, he grabbed a card and subconsciously channelled his energy into it, turning it pure blue with a digimon logo visible in the centre. Both Rika and Henry just stared in shock as a light wind picked up around Takato and blew towards them. Both recognised the card Takato now held, it was the same one responsible for helping them become tamers in the first place.

"He's got the card," Henry murmured, sounding stunned. "But…where did it come from?" Rika just kept looking, before finally muttering, "Okay, I'm impressed."

Takato grabbed his D-Arc and looked up to the top of the roof. "Okay boy, help is on the way," he stated before slashing the blue card through his D-Arc. "Digi-Modify! Matrix Digivolution Activate!" The others were so busy watching this, that none of them noticed Calumon shut his eyes and the symbol on his head light up, all except a certain Zanpakuto who made a point of informing his holder of that little detail later.

'**Well, that's an interesting development. What are you, little Calumon?'** the knight thought to himself. He always felt there was something…different about Calumon compared to other digimon, but he could never tell what it was from the brief encounters he found in Takato's memories. When everything had calmed down he would tell Takato.

-o0o-

(On the Hypnos Building)

Growlmon opened his eyes to find his side still in Mihiramon's jaws. He remembered everything that had just occurred with Takato and that knight in that clock place, but now that he was out of it he could feel his data starting to break up again, despite feeling his tamer's determination through the bond that the stranger had mentioned to them. It hurt.

"Stupid fool," growled the large tiger digimon, keeping Growlmon clamped in his jaws. "I beat you and your allies without breaking a sweat. This is proof that humans make you weak and when I'm done with you, I'll finish of the others. I won't even waste my time with the humans, I'll leave them to my new pet." This worried Growlmon. It meant there was something else here that the others weren't aware of, but he was unable to warn them

Suddenly Growlmon's eyes widened as he felt his data stabilise and his strength return. But it didn't stop, it just kept growing, forcing the tiger type digimon off him.

"What kind of trick is this?" growled Mihiramon, annoyed that his prey had suddenly forced him away. He could only watch in both fascination and anger as Growlmon's form changed, becoming larger. His data shifted, forming large armoured gauntlets with blades on the outside on each arm and encasing his entire upper body in armour with jets in the back. The final change was a large metal face mask covering the lower half of his face, completing his half dinosaur/half robot look.

"Growlmon, Matrix Digivolve to...WarGrowlmon," roared the newly digivolved ultimate digimon, who levelled a frosty glare at Mihiramon, his pupils slitted and growling viciously.

"Ready for round 2 kitty?" he asked, before lunging towards Mihiramon with the bladed gauntlets, ready to strike.

-o0o-

(Back at the bottom of Hypnos)

"Oh Yeah! WarGrowlmon, Virus type Cyborg Digimon, ultimate level," cheered Takato, while Rika and Henry looked on, shock and awe mingling on their faces.

"I didn't think dino boy could get any bigger than he already was," murmured Rika. She was slightly annoyed that Guilmon had become stronger than Renamon AGAIN but this was overshadowed by her awe at how his ultimate form looked. She had to admit, for a digimon that acted like a child at times, he was strong, but very unassuming. 'Like his tamer,' thought Rika, who glanced towards Takato but averting her eyes quickly with a light blush at how he looked with the determination and happiness shining in his face. 'Calm down Rika, you _do not_ like the Gogglehead like that...' Rika assured herself, the light blush quickly fading. Unfortunately for her, Renamon noticed it, but decided to say nothing for the time being.

"Yeah, I'll say," agreed Henry, while Terriermon merely decided to ask, "Geez, how big a rainbow we gonna need to make him de-digivolve this time?" This got a light chuckle from the others as they remembered what happened the first time Guilmon digivolved. Suddenly Takato grunted in pain his body moving to the side as if he had been hit. Before he could say anything he did the same in the other direction before suddenly sliding backwards slightly, looking a little worse for wear than he did a few seconds ago.

"I feel every hit. Man, that guy can hit hard!" muttered Takato, while the others looked at him like he'd gone crazy with a hint of worry in their expressions. He was feeling every hit that his digimon did? How was that even possible? They returned their gaze to the roof, while occasionally glancing back to Takato, hoping that he was ok.

Back on the rook, WarGrowlmon managed to land a glancing blow to Mihiramon, damaging one of the shields on his body. He attacked again, his bladed arms now glowing with energy.

"RADIATION BLADE," he roared, aiming once again to take Mihiramon down. Again, he came close, but was only able to land a glancing blow and deal minimum damage. His opponent was just too fast!

"Impressive," stated Mihiramon, "Very few digimon have been able to touch me in combat at your level, never mind at champion like you managed earlier. Why don't you join us? These humans will abandon you without another thought. With us, you could be more powerful than you ever dreamed and together, we could rule this world!"

WarGrowlmon mere shook his head before replying, "No! Takatomon is my friend, and so are the others. They would never abandon us, and I won't abandon_ them!_ No matter what you say I won't!"

"Then you shall die! SAMURAI TIGER TAIL!" he growled before his tail once again morphed into its weaponised form and began attacking with it. WarGrowlmon just managed to get his arms up to block, but the hits still pushed him back several feet. Through the link, he could sense Takato was feeling the damage as well, which, while minimal, was still hurting him. This caused him to growl dangerously. _No One _hurt his tamer, especially not some over sized fur ball!

'_Alright partner, time to take the tiger by the tail,'_ came Takato's voice over the link, causing WarGrowlmon to nod in agreement.

Back with the other tamers, Rika and Henry were looking at Takato strangely, wondering what he was talking about. Before they could say anything to him, he moved and took a fighting stance, his legs shoulder width apart and bent slightly, as if bracing for some kind of impact. What really shocked them was when WarGrowlmon seemed to do the exact same thing, just visible to them because of his proximity to the edge of the roof.

This sudden action caused Mihiramon to pause slightly, before growling and attempting to finish his opponent with his strongest attack.

"ARMOURED TIGER TAIL!" His tail kept its weapon form, put the end transformed into some kind of large spiked mace, ready to knock the other ultimate level of the roof. He swung hard and fast, hoping to finish the fight quickly with this single attack.

To his horror, however, his opponent caught the tail, causing him to be forced back slightly but not far enough to knock him off the roof. On the ground, Takato also slid back slightly, but he stood firm like his partner. "Now WarGrowlmon! Finish him off!" shouted Takato.

"Right! Time to say good night, kitty," taunted WarGrowlmon, before the cannons on his chest started charging, a crimson glow enveloping them. "ATOMIC-" He started.

"BLASTER!" Finished Takato, as his digimon partner hit Mihiramon with his strongest attack from point blank range.

"NO! This can't be! I'm a Deva, I'm Unbeatable!" roared the large Tiger Digimon as the blast struck him, _hard_. As his data started to fall apart, he gave his final message to WarGrowlmon. "You may have beaten me, but you're weakened. My pet will finish you off and make you watch as he consumes your precious _humans_ before he kills you!" He chuckled in a deranged manner before his data fully fragmented, killing him. WarGrowlmon promptly absorbed the new data, giving him a quick boost of energy. Mihiramon was right, he was still slightly tired from the digivolution he'd gone through from Champion to ultimate level for the first time then facing the tiger. By this point WarGrowlmon was definitely looking forward to a good night's sleep.

With that, he used his jets to slowly descend to the bottom of the Hypnos building in front of the others. The moment he touched the ground Takato ran up to him and hugged one of the massive toe claws, it was the only thing he could comfortably reach considering how big WarGrowlmon was. "You did it boy! You beat him!" cheered Takato, looking up so he could see his partners face.

"No, we did it…tamer," replied the large Saurian, prompting a light chuckle from Takato and confused looks from the others.

"…you get the feeling we're missing something here Rika?" Henry asked, receiving a light nod from the red head in response. "Don't worry Henry, those two _will _be answering our questions soon, we'll make sure of that," she stated, with Renamon nodding in agreement. While she couldn't place it, something just felt…off, with Takato, and from the confused expression Terriermon sent his way, along with the questioning glance to Renamon, she could tell the small bunny digimon was feeling the same way.

As Takato stepped away, WarGrowlmon glowed, before his form began shrinking rapidly until he eventually regained his rookie form once more, the glow fading from his red scaled body. Takato quickly hugged his partner, showing just how happy he was that Guilmon was alright.

"Thanks for the save, buddy," whispered Takato, referring to what had occurred within that clock landscape. "No worries, Takatomon," replied Guilmon, causing Takato to face fault at the return of his unwanted nickname from his partner and the others to chuckle at the scene.

Before he could say anything however Rika spoke up, "Haven't we just beaten the digimon? If that's the case, then why is this digital field still up?" This prompted confused looks from everyone except Guilmon, whose eyes widened as he remembered what Mihiramon had said on the roof during the fight.

"Takato, we need to be careful, there's something else here. Mihiramon called it his pet," said Guilmon. This caught the other's attention and shocked looks were directed at the saurian.

"There's something else here? Why didn't you say something sooner Dino boy?" exclaimed Rika. "In case you haven't noticed, none of you guys are exactly in fighting shape," which was true. Renamon and Terriermon still looked haggard from their fights and Guilmon looked like he was about to fall asleep standing up despite his attempts to stay alert. They had all checked their decks during WarGrowlmon's fight and, to their horror, found that none of them had any recovery cards on hand, meaning that they were in serious trouble.

Before they could move however, several screams caught there attention. Everyone turned to see Kazu, Kenta and Jerry running towards them with looks of total and utter terror on their faces.

(2 minutes earlier, in the bushes)

While the other tamers were busy with the battle, none of them had noticed that Takato's friends had followed them and were watching them from the bushes nearby. They'd arrived after Takato passed out and woke up, so they were unaware of his current situation.

"Where's Guilmon?" asked Jerry. The other 2 looked and noticed that he wasn't with the others. "Beats me," replied Kazu, before he looked up to the top of the Hypnos building. "Dude! Check THAT out!"

Everyone looked towards where he was pointing, and were stunned to see a large armoured dinosaur descending to the ground. None of them noticed the large shadow hiding nearby, watching them.

"Is that...Guilmon?" Jerry asked quietly. She was slightly scared by his current appearance, but was trying hard not to show it so the other two wouldn't tease here about it.

"No, that's his ultimate level, WarGrowlmon!" replied Kenta, who was trying not to squeal like a fan boy at the site of seeing several REAL digimon, but the excitement could still be heard in his voice. The group started to make their way towards the tamers when something landed with a loud _THUD_ behind them.

"My, don't you three look like tasty little morsels. You'll do well for appetisers..." came a deep, twisted voice. The three teens turned around to face the speaker and froze. This...thing was certainly not any kind of digimon that they knew of. It looked similar to a lizard in shape, but it was about the same size as Growlmon! Its skin was made up of mud-brown scales from what they could tell and was almost camouflaged against the trees, but the swishing movements of its bone like tail made it easier to see.

It's more noticeable feature was a Bone White mask that acted as its face. It was gruesome to see and its lower jar was hanging open slightly, a long tongue hanging out slightly as it stared at the three teens.

Kenta was the first to regain his senses, simply screaming "RUN!" before turning round and hightailing it in the direction of the tamers, thinking their digimon might help stop this thing. Kazu and Jerry did the same not a second too soon, screaming as the creature lunged at them and missed by the barest of margins.

The tamers quickly turned towards the shouts and saw Jerry, Kazu and Kenta running at full pelt towards them. Before they could ask what was wrong, they saw something leap out of the nearby trees towards them. As it landed, Kazu and Kenta proceeded to hide behind Takato, while Jerry hid behind Henry, much to his surprise.

It landed right in front of them and stood on its rear legs, towering over them and revealing a large hole in the centre of its chest. Everyone stepped back in fear of the large creature and while the others looked scared, Takato had a shocked expression on his face.

'_Is...that a Hollow?'_ Takato asked dazedly. '_But that's impossible! I thought you said that they didn't exist in this world! And how are we all able to see it?_'

"**And I shouldn't exist in this world, yet I do, Takato," **came the reply of his Zanpakuto, "**It seems I was correct, something is connecting Hueco Mundo to your digital world, though how that hollow is visible and why you can use me with your real body is something we will have to figure out later. Now, brace yourself, and be ready to follow my instructions when I give them**,"

'_Got it,_' thought Takato, who slowly moved his hand to his new sword so as not to draw attention. Before he could do anything, Guilmon, despite his tired state, charged forward to attack the hollow.

"PYRO SPHERE!" yelled Guilmon as he fired a blast at the larger hollow who didn't even bother to dodge. The attack hit it dead in the chest and exploded, causing the creature to fade from view behind a cloud of smoke. Unfortunately for Guilmon, that attack used up a fair amount of the energy he had left, so he was unprepared for the tail that suddenly lashed out from the smoke, hitting him squarely in the chest and launching him back towards the others. None of the other digimon were strong enough to launch an attack, still far too weak from their fight with Mihiramon. They were surprised that Guilmon had enough energy for that last Pyro Sphere.

"Pathetic little creature. Even I can see you're too tired to do anything against me. That makes it all the easier for me...your human friends smell very tasty. They have an interesting energy about them," chuckled the creature, as he turned towards Takato, noticing the sword that was on his side.

"Oh, so you fancy yourself to be a Shinigami do you little human? Well, you seem to have the energy for it," grinned the hollow, "you will be fun to devour."

Before anyone could move, the Hollow lunged towards Takato. While the others tried to move out of the way, Takato didn't budge, much to their shock.

"Takato! get out of there!" yelled Rika, who didn't know what to do. None of her cards could help them and she couldn't use them on Renamon as she didn't have enough energy yet. It didn't take long for the hollow to have Takato within arms reach and attempt to grab him, thinking that he stood there frozen in fear. But, before anyone could even react, Takato swiftly drew the sword from its sheath and slashed at the hollows approaching arm. To everyone's shock, and the Hollows horror, it cut clean through, amputating the offending limb. The others took the opportunity to quickly look at the sword Takato was holding. The blade itself was straight but it curved near the tip to form a sharp point on one side while the other was straight. From where they stood, they could easily tell the blade was sharp, which was obvious if what he had just done was any indication.

The hollow could only step back and look at the now severed arm, before looking back at Takato. 'That's impossible, only the blade of a Shinigami should be able to sever my arm like that,' thought the hollow, 'but that can't be a Zanpakuto, that human is still alive. Interesting...' The hollow then started to cackle. Takato and the others could only watch as it laughed, before, to there horror, it started re-growing the lost limb. Hoping to do something, Takato charged forward, moving faster than he thought he could, sword ready to swing in hopes of stopping the hollow from doing any more damage. But, before he could do anything, the hollow's tail came around again, too quickly for him to dodge and slammed into his chest, stunning him and sending him flying straight into Rika, who collapsed under his weight.

Takato took a moment to shake his head clear, before realising he landed on something soft. He looked at what he landed on, only to blush as he realised he was sitting on an equally blushing Rika. He quickly stood up, so as to hopefully avoid the punch to the head that he was likely to receive as Rika stood up as soon as Takato was up, trying to look like nothing had happened.

"You're lucky we're in trouble or I'd kick your ass gogglehead," muttered Rika, as they turned their attention back to the hollow which had just finished re-growing his arm. "Now what do we do about him? Guilmon's attack did nothing and you somehow cut its arm of with that sword but the thing just regrew it!"

"I don't know..." replied Takato as he glanced at his sword. '_Any ideas on what we can do?_' he thought. Before he could wait for a response, Takato had to jump back as the Hollow went for him again. He just managed to get out of the way, but was forced to dodge again and again as the Hollow kept trying to grab or bite him.

"**There is a way to defeat him. You need to be able to destroy its mask, it's the only way to kill a Hollow. I apologize. I forgot to give you this information earlier,**" came the reply. Takato nearly froze when he heard that but managed to dodge another lunge just in time.

'_How could you forget that? Never mind, you probably didn't expect any hollows to attack, let alone be here in the first place so it doesn't matter. So how am I suppose to reach his mask? He isn't exactly gonna stay still and let me hit him unless you haven't noticed._' asked Takato, as he managed to dodge one more grab from the hollow, before realising that he had moved a fair distance from the others. A fact the hollow seemed to notice as well.

"Maybe your friends will put up less of a fight. I prefer it when my food doesn't fight back," chuckled the hollow as it turned to face the others. Takato most definitely did _not_ want to hear that. He went to attack again but this time the hollow swung its arm and knocked Takato into the side of the Hypnos building before turning back to the others who were attempted to get away while the digimon stood guard, ready to try and fight the creature back so the others could escape.

"**There is a way for you to defeat it, Takato, all you need to do is call upon my name,**" came the voice of his Zanpakuto. Takato then remembered what he had been told about his blade and what it could do.

'Well here goes nothing,' though Takato. He stood back up in time to see Renamon launch the strongest Diamond Storm she could while Terriermon fired off a bunny blast, but did nothing considering their weakened state. Again, the hollow merely knocked them to the side near Guilmon, who was still recovering from the last hit he received. Takato sped up to face the Hollow who was now towering menacingly over the other humans, their digimon protectors unable to defend them.

Before it could do anything Takato suddenly appeared in front of the group, much to their surprise. "You want my friends? You've gotta go through me first," growled Takato, his sword held out in front of him, gathering his energy as his Zanpakuto instructed. The hollow didn't notice.

"Eager to die are you? Very well then," roared the Hollow. Before it could move Takato chanted something that made it freeze in shock while the others stared in confusion.

"Abandon hope, all ye who stand against me. Purge their sins, DANTE!"

A shockwave emitted from Takato, knocking the humans on their asses while the Hollow took a step back in fear, its eyes riveted to the spot where Takato stood, now hidden by a small dust cloud.

"T-that's impossible! He feels new and yet he already has Shikai! What is this kid?" Yelled the hollow, as the dust cloud dissipated, revealing Takato in a completely new outfit.

His usual attire had been replaced with a black pair of hakama and a kosode like top tied with a white obi. He was also wearing white socks with wooden zori. What really caught their attention was the weapon he had resting on his shoulder. Instead of the sword he previously held he now wielded what looked like a spear. One end had a sharpened cone, while the other had what looked like a flame shaped spearhead but they could just make out the Hazard Symbol engraved upon the bladed part of the weapon. The digimon could practically feel the power emanating from the young tamer and could only look on curiously while the other humans could do nothing but stare in shock.

"...What the hell just happened here? Did we miss something before we got here?" asked Kazu who looked completely lost at what just happened.

"I think we all missed something Kazu," replied Henry, who just stared at Takato. Thoughts raced through his head but he paid them little attention, too busy staring at his friend.

"Well, he better explain what's going on, or he's gonna regret it," growled Rika. She was starting to get fed up with all of the extra weird stuff that was happening. It didn't seem digimon related, meaning she couldn't do anything and she hated that. Kenta and Jerry could only stare and watch what was going on, but deep down, they also wanted answers, and they didn't want to wait.

Before anyone could say anything, the Hollow snapped out of its apparent daze and charged at Takato, roaring angrily.

Takato, however, calmly followed Dante's instructions and channelled his energy into the weapon and swung it downward as hard as he could. While the others were confused as to why he would swing when the hollow isn't in range, none of them noticed the cut appearing in the ground heading towards the hollow which kept moving towards Takato. But just as the hollow neared Takato it suddenly split in half right down the middle, each half landing on either side of the young tamer who simply turned and walked away as the hollow seemed to fragment in a similar way to a digimon once it's been beaten.

He kept walking until he reached his friends, a goofy smile now planted on his face. "You guys okay?" he asked before his eyes rolled up into his head and he promptly fell forward and passed out which caused the others to rush up to check on him. As they did so Takato's outfit glowed slightly before fading away to reveal his original clothing. His weapon too, glowed lightly before reverting back to its sword form. Then, to everyone's confusion, it glowed again and changed into what looked like a modify card.

Rika stepped forward to pick it up and took a look at it, surprised to see an image of the sword they had just seen, with the title 'Zanpakuto: Dante'. While tempted to try it for herself, something in the back of her mind told her that wasn't a good idea so she put it with Takato's other cards. She then proceeded to check Takato, who was at least breathing this time. He was sleeping soundly, that same goofy smile still on his face.

'He's tired,' thought Rika. 'Then again, I think anyone would if they just did...whatever he did. You owe me and the others some serious explanations, goggle boy.'

She quickly stood up before turning to Kazu and Kenta and asked, "Either of you two dweebs got any recovery cards?"

Both checked their decks and, to their surprise, each found they had a Full recovery card, which were promptly taken by Rika who ignored their indignant "Hey!" that she received in response. She passed one to Henry and they both swiped the card, restoring their Digimon's health.

"Ah, that feels better," said Terriermon, who quickly returned to his perch on Henry's shoulder. "Now, what are we gonna do with sleeping weirdo over there?" he asked, only to receive a smack on the head from Henry. "Momentai Henry, I mean, what the hell just happened. I know for a fact that humans shouldn't be able to do what he just did but look at what we just saw! Something feel's different with him, and I know Renamon can tell that as well, right?"

They turned to Renamon, who nodded in agreement. "I cannot explain it either but there is something different about him now. In fact, it felt somewhat...similar to whatever that creature was, but his feels more…alive somehow while the creature felt more...dead, evil. For now, I think all we can do is wait for Takato to wake up and ask him what he knows about what has occurred tonight."

Everyone nodded in agreement and decided to meet up tomorrow when Takato woke up. With that, Rika decided to head home, while Renamon decided to help Jerry and Henry get Guilmon back to the shed, leaving Kazu and Kenta to take Takato back to his house. Calumon decided to follow the group carrying Guilmon back to the park.

None of them noticed the 5 figures watching them from nearby, looking at Takato with curiosity. Two of them turned and nodded to each other, as one picked up the shortest of the group before all of them suddenly disappeared, as if they hadn't been there at all.

**AN:** And here's the latest chapter DONE! I hope you guys enjoyed it! Bet ya can't guess who the figures at the end were! –sticks out tongue- and we're not tellin'! You're gunna have to wait and see but you hopefully won't be waiting too long.

Reviews are appreciated! Any comments, criticisms, whatever you wanna say! All are more than welcome!

See you guys next time!

MG Mirani


	4. Chapter 4

-cringes- I just want to say that you CANNOT blame me for the lateness of this chapter for this story! The blame for that falls ENTIRELY on I'm Yu! -points finger- I do however take full responsibility for not posting ANYTHING on ff.n for ages but pleast refrain from scewering me and roasting me on a spit or you won't get anything EVER again!

Right, now that that's cleared up...

Let the fic..._begin!_

Explanations, Snakes and New Tamers!

-o0o-

A low groan emerged from his throat as Takato eye's slowly opened from his long rest. He tried to sit up in his bead, but was barely able to lift his head of the pillow to look at his surroundings.

He noticed that he was in his bedroom, but he had absolutely no idea how he got there in the first place. The last thing he remembered was...

He suddenly bolted upright as he recalled the events at the Hypnos building, but slumped to the side of his bed, unable to move. He'd never felt this exhausted before, it was like he hadn't moved in weeks. Before he could attempt do anything else, he heard his bedroom door opened and someone step into his bedroom, before rushing to his bed, noticing that he had moved.

"'Bout time you finally woke up Gogglehead! We've been waiting for you to get moving for the past 3 days!" Came a female voice that Takato instantly recognised as Rika's. He may have been a little groggy, but he definitely heard how long he'd been out for.

'_3 Days! I've never slept that long before! Then again, I've never done anything like that before._' He would have said something in response, but his throat was like sandpaper. He was thirsty. He just croaked slightly, it was the loudest he could speak for the moment. However, his mother walked past the room at that moment and heard. Realising that he was finally awake, she quickly ran into his room, nearly knocking Rika over.

"Takato! Are you alright, sweetie? Everyone's been worrying about you!" exclaimed Mie, who was now helping her son sit up, oblivious of the girl that was standing behind her. That is, until Rika coughed to get her attention and pass her the glass of water that had been on the side. Mie blinked in confusion, until an apologetic look appeared on her face.

"Sorry Rika, I didn't see you there," apologised Mie, as she took the glass from Rika with a small thank you. Rika nodded in return, understanding what Takato's mother meant before leaning against the wall, waiting for a chance to...talk with the goggle headed boy about just WHAT had happened 3 days ago.

Takato gratefully drank the water that his mother was giving to him. He'd have taken the glass to have the drink himself, but his arms didn't quite feel strong enough to hold the glass without dropping it. He could slowly feel life returning to his limbs though. Soon enough, he'd drained the entire contents of the glass.

"Thanks mum," mumbled Takato, who was grateful that his throat no longer felt rough. He turned his attention to Rika. He was glad that she was alright, but he was still worried about the others.

"How's everyone else doing, Rika?"

"They're all fine, sleeping beauty. We've been waiting for you to finally wake up. You owe us some SERIOUS explanations," replied the red head, who glared at Takato, so he knew that there was no way he was going to worm his way out of this situation. A fact he quickly realised.

"I'm glad you're ok," replied Takato, before sighing and asking, "Where are the others?"

"They're all downstairs. We got here a few minutes ago when I decided to see if you'd finally woken up. And before you ask, Henry brought Guilmon here from the park. He's fine as well."

Takato sighed in relief. He remembered seeing his friend get knocked aside by the creature after fighting Mihiramon and didn't know how he was. Hearing this from Rika took a weight off his chest.

"I'm gonna let the others know you're awake." Before Rika could leave the room though, Takato quickly asked, "If you want me to try and explain what happened, you mind bringing the others up here? I don't think I'll be moving for a little while, and I don't want to repeat this too much. It's probably gonna take a while." Despite the fact that he was finally awake, he didn't feel strong enough to be moving from his bed just yet.

"Sure," replied Rika, who quickly left, muttering "Lazy Goggle head," under her breath. Though she'd never admit this to the others, the other reason she'd volunteered to check on Takato was because she enjoyed seeing how peaceful he looked. None of the others knew this, though she could have sworn Jeri was giving her a knowing look just before she went to check on the goggle headed tamer. But she simply shrugged it off before reaching the top of the stairs.

After alerting the others, it didn't take long to get them all into Takato's room. Naturally, Guilmon, in his excitement, charged ahead and nearly knocked his currently bed-ridden tamer back over, if Renamon hadn't managed to get a hold of him and convince him to calm down. He whimpered in apology and sat back on his haunches, watching as the others gathered around his tamer.

While waiting, Takato simply leaned against the wall at the end of his bed, with his eyes half shut, attempting to speak to Dante. '_Dante? Are you still there?'_

"**Yes, Takato, I am here. Although it seems my weapon no longer appears to be with you. You'll have to ask the others what happened, because I lost contact with the outside world when you passed out.**"

This had Takato slightly worried, but managed to hide it from the others as they entered. He was grateful for Renamon stopping his partner from rushing him. He couldn't deal with the overly happy saurian just yet. Once everyone was gathered, he attempted to gather his thoughts for what would be a VERY long explanation.

"Before I answer anything, you guys know what happened to that...sword that I had from the fight with Mihiramon?" Asked Takato, who was looking around his room for any sign of it.

"Check the top card of your deck, goggles. I hope you plan on explaining that as well," came a reply from Rika, who was leaning against the now closed bedroom door. Henry, who was sat next to Takato's cards, quickly took the top card to pass to him, but not before checking it for himself. He then handed the card to its owner, a confused expression on his face.

Takato took the card and was surprised to see the image of the sword from that night on it, along with the title 'Zanpakutou: Dante'. '_Well, at least we know where the sword disappeared to_.'

"**Indeed, though I have no idea on how this came to be just yet. I'll have to think about this**," came Dante's reply. "**Now, I think it's time to explain what you can to your friends. For now, just tell them most of what I told you. That will probably cover most of the questions they will likely have, if not all of them.**"

Takato simply nodded in reply before looking at his friends and fellow tamers. "I know I have a lot of explaining to do. This is gonna take a while, so please, try and wait till I'm finished before you bury me alive with the various questions you'll probably find."

After everyone nodded in agreement, Takato began giving the same explanation about hollows and Shinigami that Dante had given him when they first met. He was amazed that no one asked while questions, even Kazu and Kenta stayed quiet. Although, there were a couple of times when they opened their mouths to say something, but they were quickly shut when Rika noticed and clapped them round the back of the head, since they were sat near her during the explanation (Think of the dreaded Gibbs Slap from NCIS).

It took about half an hour to get through the explanation, since there were a few times when Dante had to remind him of a few details. But by the time he was finished, everyone, including Rika, was looking at him with the biggest WTF faces he'd seen. He couldn't help but chuckle at their faces, but it was enough to snap them out of it, before Rika managed to say something.

"So, you mean to tell us that you did…what you did a few nights ago because the Digital world has somehow been linked with a world that is full of evil soul eating creatures, which just so happens to be considered Hell for another earth that has no clue about Digimon in any way. While you, have somehow gained the power of a…soul reaper, which in a way is like the guardian angels of that worlds heaven. And the sword that you used is basically a part of your soul but separate, and it's pretty much alive?" she asked with an incredulous expression on her face, while Takato simply nodded in confirmation.

Henry looked to be deep in thought at what had been said, while Jeri was looking at Takato with wide eyes. Kazu and Kenta simply looked stupefied, their mouths hanging wide open as if their jaws were about to fall off. Renamon, from her perch by the window, merely looked at Takato with an unreadable expression, while Guilmon simply watched what was happening with a half lidded gaze. All of the talking had bored him. Naturally, it was Terriermon who broke the thick silence in the room.

"Geez Takato, how many paint chips have you eaten these past few months?" This got him a scolding from Henry, a few chuckles from Kazu and Kenta, a giggle from Jeri and a smirk from Rika.

"Then do you have any better explanations, Terriermon?" came the reply from Renamon, speaking for the first time since her arrival as she levelled her gaze on him. He opened his mouth as if to answer, but he simply stayed quiet and shook his head. "I thought so."

"That may explain what that...thing was that attacked us and how you were able to stop it, but there's one thing you didn't explain." Everyone looked towards Henry, who was now looking between Takato and his digimon. "How did you end up so...synchronised with Guilmon like that? I mean, you two seemed to move like you were the same person, you felt the blows he felt and whatever you said back there, he acted as if he could hear you from the top of the Hypnos building, which should be impossible!"

At this point, Kazu, Kenta and Jeri were looking at Henry Wide eyed, since they had arrived after the battle with Mihiramon. Rika and the other digimon simply looked at Takato curiously, as they recalled what happened after Growlmon fought with the tiger digimon.

Takato simply sighed and closed his eyes. '_How do I explain that one?'_

"I don't know Takatomon." Takato's eyes snapped open as he looked towards his partner with the others, confused expressions on their faces. "Guilmon, I didn't say anything."

"Yes you did. You asked 'How do I explain that one?'" That had Takato's eyes widen to the size of dinner plates.

"Guilmon...I didn't say that. I THOUGHT that."

At that point, you could have heard a mouse crap on cotton in Takato's Bedroom.

"You...thought that?" asked a now gobsmacked Rika. "How is that possible? I can't do that with Renamon, and I can sure as hell guess that Henry and his rabbit can't either (Terriermon shouted an indignant "HEY!" in protest and puffed his cheeks), so how are you able to do it?" On the outside, she only appeared shocked, but inside she was also angry that Takato had AGAIN beaten her to something that she couldn't do as a Tamer. She prided herself on being the strongest and that image was being shot to hell after the battle at Hypnos by the weakest tamer of the group.

"I think that knightmon said something about us having a strong bond," came the childish reply, prompting a raised eyebrow from Rika and a curious look from Henry and the others. Takato simply face palmed.

"He wasn't a Mon, Guilmon. But yeah, he did say something about us having a strong bond, even though we'd been partners for the shortest amount of time." Takato tapped his chin in thought. "Maybe it's because I actually created you..."

"Wait, you CREATED Guilmon?" Came the shocked question from Henry, while the others looked at Takato wide eyed. Even Rika looked a little shocked by that.

"Well...yeah. Didn't you wonder why you could never get any data from him on your D-arcs? Mine's probably the only one that'll give anything on him." Henry merely nodded slightly in agreement, while Rika simply rolled her eyes

"And I thought you were weird before goggle boy. What's next, you're gonna tell us that you dream of skating on sausages and eating nothing but bread like Guilmon?" Takato narrowed his eyes at this and actually glared at Rika.

"Rika, I can tell you're angry about this, but DON'T knock it. If it wasn't for this...bond, I wouldn't be here right now!"

"What do you mean by..." Rika's reply was cut as off as Takato swiftly drew a finger across his neck, making the meaning behind his statement clear as day. "If you remember, I'd actually stopped breathing during that little 'light show' I was giving, as you called it."

Rika nodded her head as she recalled the events from that night. Suddenly, Kazu's brain had finally started working well enough to ask a question.

"Wait, you make it sound like all of those guys you mentioned were ghosts, so...does that mean you're a ghost as well?" Kenta looked a little scared, thinking he was talking to a ghost of his friend, while the others looked at Takato wondering the same thing.

"If I was a ghost, you would have seen 2 copies of me back there, one of which would have been on the ground looking dead," he replied. "I'm still alive, though Dante-my Zanpakutou-has no idea how or why I'm still alive and able to use him like I did. He's still thinking about how he even exists with me."

Kazu and Kenta relaxed upon hearing that Takato was alive, while Jeri looked relived that her friend was still alive. Henry, however, still looked like he was thinking about something.

"Hey Takato, do you think Dante knows if any of us will be able to get zanpakutous?" Everyone looked at Henry like he was crazy before turning to Takato. You could practically see Kazu and Kenta dreaming of having powers like that.

Takato simply repeated the question to Dante. "**They may do, but they may never learn the name of their sword, so they wouldn't be able to do much. But I very highly doubt that any of them will develop a zanpakutou-unless they want to experience death first hand and see what happens.**"

Takato relayed the reply to the others. Kazu and Kenta paled at what was needed and immediately decided they preferred to live. Jeri was wide eyed, but remembered what Takato said earlier about how he got his sword. Henry and Rika merely glanced at their partners.

While they thought it could help, they remembered that for some reason, they weren't as bonded with their partner's as Takato was with Guilmon, so if something happened there was no guarantee of surviving. Takato had survived through sheer luck, something that they didn't have as much of for some reason.

"Well, it was worth asking Brainiac," said Rika, as she stood up from leaning on the wall. "But personally, I'd rather not die. Anyway, I'd stay longer, but my Grandma wants me home shortly. I'll see you guys later."

"Bye Rika, Bye Renamon," waved Guilmon as Rika walked out the door, while Renamon phased out.

"We should probably leave to. You still look a little tired pal," said Henry as he stood up, Terriermon still perched on his shoulder. Jeri stood up with him, while Kazu and Kenta looked as if they wanted to stay. Takato, however, simply yawned very loudly.

"Thanks Henry. I'll see you guys later, ok?" He said as he lay back down, eyes already starting to shut.

"See ya later, Chumley," said Kenta as he and Kazu headed towards the door. Jeri also said goodbye before she headed out the door. Henry was the last to leave, but Terriermon managed to shout "Remember, no fighting evil monsters for the next few days!" This got a light chuckle from the 2 boys, before Henry finally left. Takato lay back down, noticing that Guilmon had curled up and was already snoring.

He chuckled and thought to himself, '_I have a feeling that things are going to get very hectic soon,_' before shutting his eyes and going back to sleep.

-o0o-

The next few days were amazingly quiet, considering everything that had happened to the tamers. Takato was able to move about the day after he'd explained everything he could to his friends. He didn't try to swipe his new card straight away He didn't know what would happen after all and didn't want to risk something bad happening.

He was curious about Calumon though, since Dante had explained what he'd seen that night while Takato was sleeping. The thought that he was responsible for all of their partner's digivolutions sounded impossible, yet he had been at nearly all of their battles when that happened, including the battle with Mihiramon when Takato got the Blue card, allowing Growlmon to reach his ultimate level for the first time.

'_Just when I thought things couldn't get any weirder with us,_' thought Takato with a sigh, as he looked at his partner. Takato was currently sitting in Guilmon's shed, watching his partner play with Calumon, who decided to visit not long ago. He'd contacted the others about hanging out, but they all had other plans for the day. So he decided to go to the park anyway. He enjoyed watching the two digimon playing together, but he still felt slightly anxious. He kept feeling like there was someone else watching him. He looked around but saw nobody there, so he passed it off as paranoia.

As he was about to stand up, he heard several people approaching the shed. He looked out of the door to see Kazu, Kenta and Jeri heading towards the shed, along with a couple of their other friends. Takato walked up to them and waved to them. "What are you guys doing out here? I thought you said you were gonna be busy."

"Well..." started Jeri, "after everything you and the others have done, we wanted to surprise you all. But it looks like the others aren't here."

"Yeah, they all had other stuff to do with their families today," replied Takato, who could see the others looking at Guilmon and Calumon in awe. He couldn't help but smile at their reactions towards the large saurian and the little cream puff sitting on his head.

"Oh well, do you mind if we spend the day with you guys anyway? You could probably do with a day off?" asked Jeri.

"Yeah, come on, Chumley," said Kenta, as he put an arm around Takato's shoulder, "take a load off your shoulders." Takato simply shook his head in amusement as he looked at the people around him. "Sure, I got nothing else going on today."

The others laughed and cheered as they headed further into the park, with Takato and the 2 digimon following. None of them noticed the pair of teal eyes hidden in the nearby trees watching them carefully, especially the goggle wearing member of the group.

On the other side of town, Rika was sitting in a theatre with her Grandma, watching a bizarre play. She couldn't remember what it was called, and for all intents and purposes, she was grateful. The play was awful. She would have preferred to hang out with Takato and the others in the park rather than watch the rest of this, but she had promised to see this with her Grandma a while ago. She hadn't done much with her elder relative since Renamon became her partner.

She sighed as she looked around the theatre in an attempt to stay awake. There wasn't much to look at, but she noticed someone who stood out for some reason. He appeared to be around her age, but, strangely, his hair was white as snow. His teal eyes showed the same boredom that she felt, but when she looked in his direction, she could have sworn his eyes moved away, as if he had been looking at her. Rika simply shook it off and looked back towards the stage. She still couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched though.

The play finished not long after she'd spotted the boy and the relief was easily seen on her face as she left the theatre with her grandmother.

"Well, that wasn't so bad, was it Rika?" asked Seiko, who watched as her granddaughter gave a slight shrug in response. She chuckled slightly. While she may have found the play more entertaining than Rika, she still enjoyed spending time with her granddaughter, even if they didn't say much to each other.

The walk to the subway station was quiet, but Rika still couldn't shake the feeling she was being watched. It was similar to the time before being taken by IceDevimon a couple of months ago, but at the same time, it didn't feel as...creepy, as that had been. She looked around and saw nothing, but could have sworn she caught a glimpse of white hair among the crowds on the street.

It was as they reached the bottom of the steps in the subway station that Rika's D-Arc suddenly started beeping as the station filled with what appeared to be smoke.

'_A Digital Field!_' thought Rika as she checked her D-Arc, while Seiko looked around to see who had started smoking. It wasn't long before a hissing sound was heard from the tunnel. As Rika looked towards it, a pair of red eyes glowed from the darkness as they came speeding towards the stop. Renamon quickly phased in next to her, just out of sight of the elder Nonaka.

"Renamon, we need to get these people out of here."

"Right," replied the Kitsune. She spotted a nearby fire alarm and set it off, prompting all of the people to head back to the stairs in a rush. Seiko was caught up in the crowd.

"Rika!"

"I'll be fine grandma, I'll catch up," replied the red head as she headed towards the edge of the station, D-Arc in hand. Seiko barely had a chance to respond before a security officer helped move her up the stairs back to street level.

A second later, a large Cobra like digimon sped past, not paying any attention to the pair. Rika didn't realise this, as she was busy trying to bring up information on her D-Arc. However, as with Mihiramon, the screen remained blank.

"Oh great, that's all I need, another Mihiramon! Urgh, these things are useless!" However, she quickly stopped grumbling to herself and grabbed a card from her deck holder. "Renamon, you ready?"

"Always."

"Then let's get him. _Digi-Modify!_" She shouted, swiping the card through her D-Arc "Digivolution Activate!"

"Renamon digivolve to…" Renamon's form began to change, growing larger and switching from bipedal to quadrapedal. A large decorated bow shaped collar formed around her neck, with 8 more tails forming behind her.

_"Kyuubimon!"_

Rika quickly hopped onto her partner's back as the snake digimon carried on down the subway tunnel. "After him!"

Kyuubimon quickly gave chase. While large, the snake was extremely fast, something which Rika quickly noticed, causing her to swipe a Hyper Speed card through her D-Arc, allowing Kyuubimon to move faster.

It wasn't long until they were out of sight of the platform, leaving no one to notice a white haired teenager watching after them, before quickly disappearing, as if he hadn't been there.

-o0o-

Henry sighed as he sat on the train home with Terriermon. They'd decided to spend the day in town, which was code for Terriermon had nagged Henry into taking him out of the house before he was subjected to any more tea parties as 'Princess Pretty Pants' by his little sister, Suzie. While usually, it wouldn't have bothered him, Terriermon was…kind enough, to remind him of a little piece of information that he knew and Henry didn't want the others to know, especially Takato! So he took Terriermon to town on the subway system. It actually turned out to be a good idea, as Henry was able to visit some of the Digimon Card Shops and get some much needed recovery cards. If any of the new digimon to arrive were like Mihiramon then those would definitely be a big help to the tamers.

The peace was quickly disturbed by the rapid beeping of his D-Arc. He quickly retrieved it and was surprised to see it indicating a digimon coming towards the train. He looked out the window and paled when he saw a large white cobra with a purple hood and a green kind of vest not far below the head. He wasn't the only one to notice it, since the echoing hisses had caught the attention of everyone else on the train. This was definitely not a good thing as, at the sight of the large reptilian digimon, most began to panic and hyperventilate. Luckily, the train had just reached the next stop.

'_Oh great, just when I thought it'd be a peaceful day,_' thought Henry as he picked up Terriermon, so he wouldn't get caught in the approaching stampede.

Everyone rushed through the doors as they opened, just as the digimon roared, the energy release causing the train to break into data. Henry would have digivolved Terriermon there and then, but a shout of "My Baby!" caught his attention. He turned and saw a small child sat in the isle, and the crowd prevented his mother from reaching the child.

Unfortunately, the digimon noticed this easy prey as well! Everyone heard the snake's roar of "VENOM AXE" as it launched an axe from its mouth towards the child.

Henry was just about to swipe a 'WarGreymon's Shield' through his D-arc when a tall Strawberry-Blonde haired teen suddenly pushed past, grabbed the kid and leapt back quickly just before the axe reached them. Henry barely saw the guy move, but stayed quiet as he passed the boy back to his mother who thanked him before running out of the station with her son. Henry went to thank him as well, but the teen simply glanced at him before moving with the rest of the crowd, hiding him from sight.

'_Who was that?_' before Henry could look back, the snake continued its trip down the tunnel as the train finished dissolving. As soon as the snake was gone Henry made his way to the steps, intent on chase the reptilian digimon on foot via the surface but, before he could get up the steps, he heard something else rapidly approaching from the tunnel the snake had come from. He went to grab a card, but was relieved when he saw Kyuubimon with Rika riding on her back. Before he could say anything, Rika yelled at him as she passed him by.

"Call Goggle head _now!_ We're gonna need his help to take this guy down!" Henry wasn't given time to reply as Kyuubimon continued down the tunnel after the digimon.

Terriermon simply jumped onto his partners shoulder. "You think she could've asked us for help? But _no_, she asked us to call her _boyfriend!_"

"Terriermon! Relax, she just asked us to call for backup. She did say that _we_ would need his help, right?"

"You're right. Doesn't mean I can't say anything about this later. I wonder how he'd react…"

"I'm not cleaning up whatever's left of you when Rika and Renamon finish," Henry replied as he started dialling Takato's number. It was a good thing that he remembered to bring his mobile with him. The phone only rang a couple of times before someone answered.

"Hello, Matsuki Bakery. How can I help," came the voice of Takehiro Matsuki, Takato's father. Not the man Henry was looking for, but it was a start.

"Mr Matsuki, its Henry Wong, Takato's friend. Is Takato around?" asked the blue haired teen as he started to head up to street level in hopes of catching up with Rika and the latest enemy to appear.

"Sorry, Henry he's not here. I think he's at the park with his friends. He mentioned something about heading there today."  
Henry nearly face palmed as he remembered that Takato had tried to get him and Rika to hang out today but they'd both had other plans. Henry would have been babysitting if his mum hadn't cancelled her plans for the afternoon to spend time with Suzie.

"Okay, thanks Mr Matsuki. Do you know if he has his phone with him? Ok, I'll try calling him on his mobile then. Thanks." Henry hung up and promptly dialled Takato's number, thankful he'd memorised it. Unfortunately, Takato didn't pick up the phone.

"Dammit. Why is it whenever we need someone, we can never get a hold of them," grumbled Henry as he ran down the street, Terriermon clinging to his head.

"Momentai, Henry. Maybe we won't need him. Although having a massive dinosaur on your side is reassuring…"

"Gee, you think Terriermon," snarked Henry, who received a blank look from Terriermon although he couldn't see it. Somehow he sensed it though and he sighed before explaining. "It was sarcasm Terriermon. You know, when someone states the blatantly obvious!"

"So that's what that was. You don't need to teach me that Henry."

"I never noticed," replied Henry, who re-checked his D-Arc to make sure they were headed in the right direction. He bolted down the next set of stairs leading to the next subway station, never noticing the Strawberry-blonde teen that had been following him with a small child on his back, or the white haired teen joining him. They simply nodded to each other before vanishing at speeds that wouldn't be considered…human.

-o0o-

Meanwhile in the park, Takato was having a blast with his friends. It had been a long time since they'd simply acted like kids running around and pushing each other in a shopping trolley that one of the teens had found. Hell, even the digimon were taking turns being pushed in the trolley. Everyone was having a great time.

However, this still didn't keep Takato from feeling like he was being watched by someone. A couple of times, he could've sworn he saw something in the trees, but whatever may have been there disappeared when he looked. While he was still having fun with his friends, it did make him feel just a little uneasy.  
Eventually he stopped and looked around, something that didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the people with him.

"What's bugging you Chummly?"  
"I keep feeling like someone's been watching us for a while now. It's making me feel a little…uneasy."

"Pfft, you're imagining things, Takato. You're just feeling too wound up after everything that happened. Just relax!"

"Uh…maybe your right, Kazu," replied the Goggle headed tamer, but not before one last glance at the bushes. He thought he saw something move, but there was nothing there.

'_Did you see that Dante?_'

"**Yes, but it wasn't a hollow. Keep your eyes open, we definitely aren't alone out here.**'

But before he could head back to the others, he heard a voice that he REALLY didn't want to hear.

"Wow, you guys are really pathetic you know that." Takato and the others turned to see what looked like a small child dressed as an imp sat up in the trees. It was Impmon, a rookie digimon that loved nothing more than to cause trouble for everyone he came across and never knew when to stop

Takato merely groaned. "What are you doing here Impmon? Isn't there someone else that you could be annoying right now?"

"Well I'd annoy your other lousy tamer friends but they're a little busy trying not to get eaten by a massive snake Digimon that's causing trouble in the subways. If you weren't too busy goofing around like a bunch of babies, you would have picked him up by now!"

"What?" Takato took out his D-Arc and found that, to his surprise, it was indicating that a digimon was nearby. In fact, it seemed to be directly below them. This was quickly confirmed when Guilmon started growling as he entered into his 'viral' state.  
"One problem Chumley. How are you gonna get down to the others from here? The nearest subway entrance is about 10 minutes from here, and that's by car. That's too far!" Came the exclamation from Kazu, who looked slightly nervous about the situation.  
"I think I have something that can help with that. Guilmon, you ready?" Guilmon simply nodded to his partner. On that, Takato grabbed a card from his deck and swiped it through his D-Arc.

"Digi-modify! Digmon's Drill Activate!"  
Guilmon's claws glowed before suddenly changed, becoming a pair of drills. As soon as the change was completed, Guilmon started drilling straight down.

"I'll be back soon guys. Try and stay out of trouble." With that, Takato jumped into the hole after his partner, the calls of good luck from his friends following him. No one noticed the Teal eyes that had been watching them all day vanish, or the smaller digital field appearing among the trees behind the children.

-o0o-

Down in the subway, things were looking grim. Despite having digivolved their partner's to champion level, the snake digimon was easily holding his own, if not winning the fight. Henry had, thankfully, managed to catch up to the large snake at the next subway point. Somehow Rika and Kyuubimon had managed to slow the snake just enough for Henry to meet them at the next platform. Now the two champion level digimon were trying desperately to fight off the large reptilian digimon.

"This is just great. Nothing we do seems to faze him. Where the hell is that blasted Gogglehead. We need Growlmon!"

"I tried to get a hold of him when you passed us, but he wasn't home and he didn't answer his phone. His folks said he was down in the park with the others."

Rika growled as she re-checked her D-Arc. They'd only just managed to get some information on their opponent, and didn't exactly fill her with confidence.

_Name: Sandiramon  
Level: Ultimate_  
_Attribute: Data  
Type: Holy Beast  
Attacks: Venom Axe, Treasure Halberd_

Typical. First Takato turns out to be some kind of…spirit warrior thing that can fight creatures that devour souls and now they have to deal with another ultimate, possibly stronger than Mihiramon and may have more of those Hollow things with it. Just when things seemed to be normal, this happened. At least they'd only been dealing with a digimon so far.  
None of their cards seemed to make a difference. Kyuubimon and Gargomon just didn't have the power needed to bring him down. As much as Rika hated to admit it, they _really _needed Takato's help. Of course, you know about the saying 'ask and ye shall receive'.

No sooner had she thought this, the roof above the large snake collapsed, the rubble landing on top of Sandiramon's head, stunning him. The rubble was quickly followed by Takato and Guilmon who ran straight towards their friends upon catching sight of them. While Guilmon was greeted with thankful glances and yells from the group, Takato was greeted by a smack round the head from Rika.

"What took you so long goggles? We've been trying to contact you for ages! Do you ever answer your damn phone!"  
"Really?" Takato took out his phone, only to find that it was dead. He chuckled nervously, while Henry face palmed and Rika whacked him again for not having his phone charged in case of a situation like this.

"Rika, you can deal with Takato later. Right now we need Guilmon to digivolve to help take care of this guy"

"Fine. But we WILL talk about this later, goggles," came Rika's reply. Takato simply chuckled nervously as he took a card from his deck holder and swiped it.

"_Digi-Modify!_ Digivolution Activate."

"Guilmon digivolve to…"

Guilmon's form was wrapped in a cocoon of data, his body becoming much larger and blades emerging from his arms. He snorted flames as he emerged from the cocoon.

"Growlmon!"

"Anything I need to know about this guy?" asked Takato, determined to find out what exactly what they were dealing with. He knew he'd messed up; he should have had his phone charged in case of an emergency. Rika shared the info they had, it wasn't exactly what Takato was hoping to hear. Kyuubimon and Gargomon had struggled against this guy and they were strong compared with most champion level digimon. He wasn't sure if Growlmon would be enough to even the odds in terms of power.

'_Wait a minute. Power! I knew this would be a good idea!_'

Takato quickly looked through his deck, grabbing three cards and sharing them out. "Kazu gave me these earlier, didn't know we'd need these so soon!"

Rika and Henry looked at the cards, and couldn't help but smile. "Wow. Looks like one of those dorks actually helped out for once." Henry nodded in agreement, but before he could say anything, he heard his partner shout, "you guys gonna help us, or are you gonna stand their yapping away like old women and slapping Takato for getting here late!"

While the others had been talking, Gargomon and the others had been facing off against Sandiramon. Growlmon's strength had helped to even the playing field a little but the snake was keeping then at a distance with a Halberd wielded with its tail.

"Don't worry Gargomon, help's on the way. You guys ready?" Upon receiving nods from Takato and Rika, all 3 swiped their card through their D-Arc at the same time.

"_Digi-Modify!_ Power Activate!" The moment the cards were swiped, all 3 of their partners perked up as they felt the extra power enter their bodies.

"Oh yeah, baby! That's what I'm talking about. Now let's make some snake skin boots out of this guy! GARGO LASER!"

"FOX TAIL INFERNO!"

"PYRO BLASTER"

Thanks to the power boost the attacks had doubled in strength, at the very least, and as they hurtled towards Sandiramon the snake tried to retreat but the tunnel was too narrow. An explosion rocked the subway as the attacks collided with the Ultimate level digimon. When the smoke cleared Sandiramon was down and looked ready to turn into data. What worried them was that he was laughing.

"Fools! You may have defeated me but _we_ are the 12 Devas. My brother's will avenge me, and they will tear this world apart!"

"WHAT! You mean there's 10 more of you psycho's on the way?" asked a shocked Gargomon, a feeling shared by the other two digimon and all three tamers. Rika made a note to find the man they had all ran into when this whole thing started and 'thank' him and his 'Juggernaut' program for starting this whole mess. Though her attention was quickly drawn by the still chuckling snake whom was starting to break apart.

"Kukuku…you needn't worry, vermin. Our pets will kill you long before we take this world, starting with your friends…" with that Sandiramon fully dissipated into a cloud of data that was quick absorbed by Gargomon and Kyuubimon, who were smarting slightly after that battle.

Takato's eyes widened as he took in what Sandiramon said and started running towards the hole on the ceiling. "Growlmon! Get us up there, NOW!"

When Rika and Henry didn't follow, Takato looked at them as Growlmon picked him up. "Sandiramon mentioned pets! What happened when Mihiramon mentioned his 'pet'?"

Their eyes widened in understanding as realisation hit. They quickly ran to their partners who then followed Growlmon and Takato up the hole. They just hoped that they weren't too late.

Thankfully their hurried ascent to the surface was unneeded. As they emerged they were greeted by the sight of three humanoid creatures on the ground, steadily dissolving like the lizard-like hollow had done when defeated by Takato and Guilmon. As Takato's eyes swept the area he caught sight of his friends, all huddled together. As he refocused on what was in front of him he realised exactly why this was so. It wasn't due to the creatures that were slowly decomposing and as he took in exactly who, and what, they were his eyes widened.

There, in front of him stood a group of 5 people. The smallest was a young girl, about Suzie's age. She was wearing a green t-shirt and jeans with plain sandals. Her hair was teal in colour and on top of that sat a white mask which he thought was reminiscent of a goat's skull. It was the other members of the group that caught his attention though.

The tallest boy had strawberry-blonde hair and brown eyes, with what looked like a permanent frown on his face, while the boy next to him and snow white hair and teal eyes. Both were wearing black hakama and a kosode like top tied with a white obi. Each teenager also sported a pair of white socks and zori on their feet, the same outfit Takato had worn when he used his Zanpakutou. Although the white haired teen wore a white haori over his outfit, a little like a jacket that had no buttons or zips to close it and no sleeves. Also, while the smaller of the two carried a simple katana on his back, the taller had what looked like a large meat cleaver in his hand, with bandages wrapped around the handle.

Next to them were 2 digimon that looked familiar, like he'd seen them before but at the same time they were different to anything the group had previously seen. One looked like an Agumon, but it was pitch black, with a red Crescent moon on its forehead, golden eyes with black where it should have been white and pale blue claws.

The other looked like Renamon but its fur was blue instead of yellow and silver rather than white with teal eyes similar to the snowy haired teen. While Renamon was generally a female digimon this one seemed different. The build wasn't quite as feminine, giving the group reason to believe that it was a male.

Rika and Henry couldn't help but recognise the teens.

"That's the kid that saved a boy when Sandiramon was headed towards us back in the subway."

"And I saw that kid at the theatre when I was with Grams."

Takato looked at them curiously. "You know these guys?"

"Never saw them till today and we never introduced ourselves. We didn't even talk to each other," replied Henry, who was trying to figure out what had happened, while Rika finally noticed what the teens were wearing.

"Aren't those the same things you had on when you used that freaky sword, Gogglehead?" Takato simply nodded and looked back at them.

"Maybe they can help us figure out just what the heck is happening here…"

"Well that would be the point of us being here instead of letting you fight the hollows by yourselves."

The tamers blinked and looked at the taller teen whom was now standing in front of them. They'd been so busy talking they hadn't noticed the new group approaching. The other teens had joined them as well but were standing with the tamers between them and the sword carrying teens and their digimon. Everyone seemed a little tense but that was changed when they heard a happy shout. Everyone looked to see Calumon playing with the little girl that had previously been standing by the two Shinigami and their digimon.

The shorter Shinigami looked back to the group and spoke up, "How about we try this again, I'm sure no one wants another fight to break out."

This got a light snort from the taller teen, making the shorter sigh. He really didn't know how Kurosaki could be so different from Kenpachi, yet so similar at the same time. It was quite unnerving. Regardless, he introduced his group. "I am Toshiro Hitsugaya, captain of Squad 10 of the 13 Court Guard Squads of the Seireitei. This is my…partner for lack of a better word while I am here, Ichigo Kurosaki. The digimon you see are IceRenamon and LunarAgumon The little girl you see is Nel, a friend of Kurosaki's"

This got a few looks of confusion and a raised eyebrow from Rika and Henry, who were more focused on the new digimon than the Shinigami. Takato couldn't help but sigh to himself. '_Why do I have the feeling things are about change even more, and not for the better?_' It was going to be a looonnggg week for the Tamers and their new acquaintances, and this was just the beginning.

-o0o-

And there we go! That's that chapter done and dusted! Now, as I'm Yu put it, the next chapter will be written mainly by me so it's most likely that it'll bemy fault if it takes ages (which it probably WILl because I am currently struggling with Writers' Block and it SUCKS! I Will try and get it out as soon as I can though and I hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter!

See you guyz next time!

MG Mirani


	5. fanfiction petition

Greetings to the fine folk that moderate our site.

Myself, along with many, have been writing and posting on your fine site for years now, some of the better examples of up and coming writers out there are now suddenly finding some of the stories we've come to love at risk of being removed without the chance to even rectify our errors.

For some, that means the permanent loss of a story. While I don't have anything that I believe violates your terms of use, there are those out there that are never able to recover a story in its original form, this is something I find to be almost worthy of a legal action, as while we cannot claim ownership of a character, the stories are OURS and simply destroying them is something that is inexcusable.

It's quite easy to simply add an MA rating, additional filters or even a simple requirement for a free membership to read the stories presented here, and would cut down on hateful anonymous reviews and posts at the same time, so I have to question as to why such a thing, in all this time, simply wasn't added.

If you're worried about falsification of a registration then have an appropriate disclaimer and then there can be no dispute, you took your steps and the PARENTS didn't monitor their children, if that is even your concern. If it is more of a personal view or desire then please at least let people know and give them a chance to remove a story that you and yours find offensive, most people on the site are actually rather cordial when it comes to such requests.

While I cannot say for sure if this letter will even reach those that may be willing to listen, of if it's more akin to a wide spectrum purge in preparation for something bigger, please understand that you are going to be looseing a LARGE number of your writers, and thus your income from a lack of readers if there is not some level of action taken to help with this situation.

For those that may agree with this, please feel free to sign on and send this to the support server, maybe we can get some movement on this.

Psudocode_Samurai

Rocketman1728

dracohalo117

VFSNAKE

Agato the Venom Host

Jay Frost

SamCrow

Blood Brandy

Dusk666

Hisea Ori

The Dark Graven

BlackRevenant

Lord Orion Salazar Black

Sakusha Saelbu

Horocrux

socras01

Kumo no Makoto

Biskoff

Korraganitar the NightShadow

NightInk

Lazruth

ragnrock kyuubi

SpiritWriterXXX

Ace6151

FleeingReality

Harufu

Exiled crow

Slifer1988

Dee Laynter

Angeldoctor

Final Black Getsuga

ZamielRaizunto

Fenris187

blood enraged

arashiXnoXkami

Masane Amaha's King

Blueexorist

Nero Angelo Sparda

Sharkteeth

DAPC

Kyuubi16

bunji the wolf

EternalKnight219

Shi Kami The Murderous Prodigy

DeathNoteMaker

Nostalgic Remedy

Paco the Taco Maker

Slayer of Destiny

MisaPummelman

Houseofnightfan1

Serenity of the Lake

Tarnished Silver Things

dArK-dAeMoIs-Dea

nurielle

Hunnypooh


End file.
